Outnumbered part 2

My ramblings, musings and rants on life

Thursday, October 09, 2014

Heh. Look. Over a year. I kinda forgot about the whole blog thing because of the whole new job thing. Which is wonderful, and amazing, but keeps me very, very, busy.
It's for a good sized church in a affluent community. Lots of kids (that's my job) to wrangle - Sunday School, choir, Bible studies and so much more. I've been here a year now and I really do love it.
The oldest is in his second year of college. Loves it for the most part. He's an RA. Doesn't love that so much.
Middle is doing well, junior in high school. Still loves art. Thinking of majoring in English.
Youngest is still playing flute. Doing marching band. Which I love that he loves, because it drives me bat crazy. Boy scouts...eagle project time approaches.
Husband still at same job, but not enjoying it as much.
Dogs still dogs.
More later...but not a whole year later, I hope.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Life has been hectic this summer. Oldest graduated (goes to college on Friday) and wrecked my car a few days post graduation. He was fine, car was totalled. So new car - actually truck- for husband and I took the smaller car. It makes sense because I drive the furthest to work, and it gets WAY better gas mileage, but we needed something to pull the boat!

Youngest did Boy Scout Camp, middle did drama camps, I worked. DH worked in June. No idea where in the world July went.

Now, it's back to school for everyone. Well, not me, but everyone else. I never stopped working so there's no re-starting. In fact I worked more this summer than I had planned on. Ugh.

I did get to go to a wonderful children's ministry conference - it was held here, which was awesome, and I learned so much.

We just got back from a quick trip to see the inlaws, it was fun, but I'm worn out.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

So, as I am frantically cleaning the carpet in my house because we have two dogs and I have a meeting here tonight, I was thinking about when I was growing up - we had cats. Cats do not put huge muddy footprints all over your carpet. Cats might leave you dead things on the porch, but you don't have to steam clean a porch. Besides, we always had cool cats. Growing up, we had a black and white cat who was part siamese, part alley cat. His howls once scared off someone who had broken in our house because he sounded like a baby crying. He died, and my mother swore she was going to get one, beige, female cat.

We ended up with two, black and white male litter mates. Boots (on the left) and Spats (on the right). Boots because he had white boots, and spats because he looked like he was wearing them.

They were loving brothers their whole lives. Boots was so big and rather fierce towards the neighborhood dogs. They would walk AROUND him on the sidewalk. Spats would lay on top of the fridge, hang over one corner and look like a gargoyle. We also trained them to dance for treats, and they loved the little sticky octopus things that would walk down a wall. They were great cats.

They also would do things like jump on the table, or rub the ribbon edge of a blanket on their teeth (right next to your ear), leave me dead things on the porch while I was running to catch the bus in high school, meow to go out and come in (They were indoor/outdoor - out as they desired during the day but in at night). They did love this scratching post - and would sleep in it often.

When they were older, my brother moved back home and brought his two cats. A large, white, dumb cat named Turbo, and a small, multicolored pscyho cat named Shadow. Boots and Spats tolerated them, but they definitely still ruled the roost.

Spats died first, and then boots later on. My mother spoke about getting a kitten, but never did. We tend to have long lived cats in our family, and I think she was worried it would outlive her.

I really want a cat. My youngest really wants a cat. Instead, I have two boxer/hound mixes, who are loving and wonderful in their own way, but I really, really want a cat. Or actually, what I really want is my cats, back again.

Monday, January 14, 2013

So this week is mid terms at the high school. So I have two rather stressed young men.
They will survive and so will I, I think.

Just a quick note to say I'm here, we are all done with Christmas, although I keep finding decorations that I forgot about - like the santa in my window.

It's going to be one of those weeks, meetings every night and then a seminar to give on Sunday. WOWZA.

Nothing too new to add. Tomorrow I'll have a post up about time warp tuesday, sponsored by Jenn at Juggling life. Oh, wait, we did get to go out to dinner with another couple this weekend - wife birthday dinner, at a very nice downtown restaurant. I had salmon on goat cheese grits and some green leafy thing. Very good, but oh so pretentous. The creamer for our coffee? Silver, wedge shaped and didn't hold but a smidgen of cream. Funny. Good food though. And fun to be grownups.

For today, it's raining. We need it, so I'm not whining, but it's also like 65 degrees. Which is just too weird for words. And my dogs don't like the rain. The bigger one looks at you like you have done this on purpose just to torture him.

Well, off to work I suppose. My enthusiasm this morning is a bit lacking. But I must go, and then come home and frantically clean for a meeting here tonight. I've already cleaned the carpet to get the dog footprints up. That should last about a day.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The picture on top is from the first time we went skiing in Germany. This is when we were leaving to go home - train to Munich, then flight to Sicily. The bottom picture is out the window of our cabin we stayed in at the military resort. We managed to get the same cabin two years in a row. My kids are so much taller now - and so much fun, even now.

We miss, miss, miss going to this place every year. It was our post Christmas tradition - my husband could never get leave over Christmas, so we'd take it the week after, and go skiing for a week. We'd stay in these cabins, not in the hotel, because it was much cozier - and far less people. We didn't go a gazillion places when we lived overseas, but I think we wrote a good story when we allowed this tradition to develop for the kids, and for us. It let us get to know a place a little bit deeper.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

My Dh and I were talking yesterday morning about how we really, down the road, want to buy a large amount of land out in the country and have horses, etc... That was what we really wanted when we moved here but it just wasn't going to happen - between the bank, available properties and reality of three teens or almost teens...
I've always loved horseback riding. Started when I was quite young at a friends "gentleman's farm" in Virginia when I was about 6. They put me on a horse and about 4 hours later I reluctantly got off. This picture looks like it was taken when I was about 7 or so, and had been riding Dolly (the horse) for awhile. Dolly was an older horse, very gentle, and who only occasionally stood me in the cow pond for ten minutes at a time.
Riding horses taught me so many things, not the least of which was a love of riding. Because it was a farm, with lots of open space, as soon as Mr. T said I was ready, he taught me how to gallop. There is nothing like that feeling in all the world. I can close my eyes, see the empty cow pasture ahead of me and remember that feeling. I wish I could recapture that feeling.

The farm also had chickens ( I Loved collecting eggs), and a fabulous old farmhouse (used as a guesthouse - people built their houses on plots of land up on the surrounding hills/mountains and shared the farm land communally). The farmhouse had been two houses actually and connected by some former owner. So you had this huge barn like room inbetween that was HUGE. And it had a great little farm kitchen, and a little room they used as a library - read Wuthering Heights there for the first time. And there was always a little scuttering of mouse feet when you turned on the lights in the kitchen! Heady stuff for a suburban girlie like me. I loved it. Still do, even though our friends are gone and I haven't been there in probably 20 years. Still, we drive by it on our way up to see my family (I'd see the town name on a sign) and think I'd love to go and just see. But sometimes memories are sweeter than reality.
Thanks to Jenn at Juggling Life for Time Warp Tuesday! Next week, I think I'll do some kiddo ones :)

Monday, December 10, 2012

So now 3/5 of us have some version of a cold. Blech. And the weather is being terribly indecisive. Pick one. Warm or Cold. I'm good with either, although I prefer cold.
Tree up and almost done. Still have to add snowflakes. Tree generally looks like this:

Snowflakes made by my Grandmother - a tree is not complete without them. The Angel needs some work before I can put her up there this year. And this is the year I need to restarch some snowflakes. But still. Now to figure out what I still need to buy.

And to send out cards. Because I get to say my oldest son is going to college! I'm so excited!

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About Me

Well, let's see. I have three boys, a husband, two male dogs, I work more than part time but less than full time, and I have never been considered a paragon of housekeeping. But I try to help make a home for my family.